


I think I like you

by orphan_account



Category: Cravity (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, They're all the same age, serim is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Serim is a coward who desperately tries to run away from his feelings.
Relationships: Park Serim/Seo Woobin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 53





	I think I like you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arieslilac](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arieslilac/gifts), [serimbot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serimbot/gifts).



> im sorry for the ugly title and for this mess of a fic..... i had no idea what went thru my mind when i wrote this but it's here anyway so
> 
> enjoy reading!

He hates Woobin, Serim decides. There’s no particular reason for it; Serim hates Woobin just the way that he is. He hates Woobin’s annoying smile, how he’s always so kind to everyone around him, how he makes Serim’s heart beat so fast whenever Woobin’s near him. Serim thinks there’s something wrong with him.

There must be something wrong with the way he feels his heart skip a beat as he hears Woobin’s voice upon entering the classroom, seeing the said boy singing to himself while he scribbles something down on his notebook. He must’ve not noticed Serim enter the room, though, as he still continues singing, his voice filling Serim’s ears.

It’s beautiful, Serim thinks. This is the first time he’s heard Woobin sing. Serim never thought he would have a beautiful voice.

Realising how absurd his thoughts sounded, Serim clears his throat, catching Woobin’s attention. He unplugs his headphones from his ears, looking at Serim.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Serim only nods at Woobin, avoiding the other’s gaze as he puts down his bag on his chair, quickly taking a seat. It’s awkward. He and Woobin are the only ones in the classroom as it was still too early and for once, Serim regrets going to school early.

He fiddles on his seat, taking out his notebook and pretending to be doing his homework albeit having it done already since yesterday during their break time. Serim tries to busy himself by focusing on his homework, failing to notice that Woobin had stood up from his seat, walking to Serim’s chair. It’s only when he feels Woobin’s presence behind him that he notices it. Serim jumps a little from his seat when Woobin puts his hand on Serim’s table, the other on his shoulder as the latter looks at his notebook.

“Have you done the assignment already? The last item was kind of tricky – I had a hard time solving it. Do you need help?”

Quickly, Serim shakes his head, offering Woobin an awkward smile as he looks up at his classmate while still avoiding eye contact. “No, thank you. I finished solving it already.”

Serim gulps as he feels Woobin’s gaze on him. “Oh,” Woobin says softly, blinking. “Ok then.”

Woobin slowly walks back to his seat although a bit hesitant, and Serim breathes a sigh of relief when Jungmo enters the classroom along with Minhee, the two said boys laughing amongst themselves as Minhee tells a silly joke to Jungmo. As if on prompt, Serim stands up from his seat to approach his friends, stealing a quick glance at Woobin’s direction and seeing the said boy look somehow sad as he stares blankly at his desk.

For some reason, Serim felt a pang in his chest.

* * *

Lunchtime came by quickly without Serim noticing it, being too preoccupied with his thoughts. He and his friends quickly made their way to the cafeteria, laughing at another one of Minhee’s many weird jokes. They eat their meals happily, talking about the things they’ve done during the weekend. Then, as Jungmo lifts his head up to look at the crowd, a certain someone catches his attention.

“Woobin! Come eat with us!” Jungmo shouts, raising his hand to catch Woobin’s attention while an excited, bright smile paints his face. Serim glances at the direction where Jungmo’s looking at, eyes widening when he realises Woobin starting to make his way to their table. Serim chokes on his food, catching Minhee’s attention who looks at him with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Serim shakes his head, quickly drinking the water from his bottle to calm himself. His heart skips yet another beat that day when Woobin takes a seat next to him, the other flashing him a bright smile. He quickly averts his gaze, going back to eating his food in a haste, wanting nothing but to leave the cafeteria already and be away from Woobin. There really must be something wrong with Serim – how come his heart always beats so fast whenever Woobin’s anywhere near him? Is there a scientific explanation behind it? Serim doesn’t know, but he hates it.

He tries not to mind his friends’ and Woobin’s attention on him as he eats his food in a flash, standing up and picking his tray as he looks at Minhee and Jungmo. “I’m done, I have somewhere to go to. See you guys later!” Serim says as he basically sprints away from his friends, feeling relieved as soon as he exits the domain of the cafeteria.

He really needs to get his heart checked, Serim thinks.

* * *

The week goes by a tad bit slowly with Serim trying all his best to avoid Woobin as much as possible such as: quickly changing his direction whenever he sees Woobin walk towards him, or purposefully going to school late so he wouldn’t have to sit through almost half an hour of awkward silence with the said boy as he waits for their other classmates to arrive, or avoiding eating lunch with his friends while making up lame excuses because he knew Jungmo would invite Woobin to eat lunch with them again. Serim feels bad about it, but he’d rather spend the whole academic year avoiding Woobin than feeling his heart do weird things whenever the latter’s anywhere near him.

Avoiding Woobin seems to be going well. A week had passed already and Serim managed to successfully avoid his classmate all the time. Today, however, doesn’t seem to be one of those days.

From small droplets of water to heavy rain pouring down outside, Serim stares wistfully outside from his seat by the window inside their classroom as he drowns his ears with the sound of the rain, completely not paying attention to his teacher. For reasons he couldn’t explain, Serim feels something heavy in his chest. He’s not sure what it is, though. He knew he’s not sad, but the heavy feeling in his chest felt too much like it’s pulling him down. Unknowingly, he lets out a sigh.

Just like that, an hour passes by and classes have ended already, the sound of the school bell booming through the school that indicates the end of classes for the day. Serim hears his classmates' complaints about the heavy rain and how it’s gonna be hard for them to go home. He doesn’t pay them attention, taking his time to calmly pack up his things.

“Selm, we’re gonna go home now! Are you gonna walk home with us?” Minhee calls out from the door, looking at Serim. He shakes his head at his friend, flashing Minhee a smile.

“You guys can go home first. I have to drop by the grocery.”

Minhee nods at him, waving his hand as he turns around to catch up with Jungmo who had already started walking away from the classroom. “Okay then!”

Serim cusses to himself as he opens his locker, realising he had left his umbrella at home. He vividly remembers his mother warning him about the possible rain today, how come he forgot to bring his umbrella out of all the days? He cusses to himself yet again as he looks at the view outside, seeing that the rain’s still heavily pouring down outside.

“Ah, I guess I’m gonna have to get myself wet then. I have to be home soon.”

As Serim’s preparing to run outside through the heavy rainfall, a yellow umbrella shows up in front of him.

“We can share my umbrella, if you want.”

Again, Serim’s heart starts to beat faster as soon as he recognizes the owner of the voice – Woobin. Slowly, he turns around to his classmate whose eyes are fixated on the grey clouds that were covering up the whole sky. “No, thank you. I don’t want to be a burden.” Serim says softly, looking away from Woobin.

Serim’s eyes widened when Woobin took his hand all the sudden, his classmate giving him his yellow umbrella.

“You can have it then.”

Before Serim could even say anything, Woobin had already ran outside the pouring rain, using his bag as an umbrella to cover himself.

* * *

The next day, Serim brings Woobin’s yellow umbrella with him, making a quick note to give it back to its owner as soon as he arrives at the school.

The owner, however, hasn’t seemed to arrive yet as Serim enters the classroom, noticing the empty seat on Woobin’s desk. Serim thinks it odd how Woobin isn’t at school yet when it’s almost time for their first subject and he’s never been late for any of their classes. It’s only when the first subject comes to an end that Serim realises something must be wrong.

“Why isn’t Woobin at school today?” Serim asks, turning around from his seat to look at Jungmo who’s sitting behind him. Jungmo replies to him with a shrug.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s sick?”

This seems to make Serim realise something, remembering how Woobin had run out of the school yesterday with only his bag protecting himself from the rain. There’s no way he wouldn’t get sick, especially with how the rain didn’t stop pouring after that. If anything, it only got worse as Serim was walking his way home, completely forgetting to drop by the grocery to buy the stuff his mother had ordered him to buy before he goes home.

Slowly, the guilt eats Serim up as he thinks of the possibility that Woobin might have gotten sick after yesterday’s encounter, and it was basically his fault. He makes a mental note to ask their teacher for Woobin’s address, planning to drop by the said boy’s house in case that was actually true.

* * *

Serim’s guess turned out to be true.

Woobin’s house welcomed him with its sick owner who’s barely holding himself up as he opens the door for his visitor, eyes widening as he realises who it is.

“You’re here.”

Serim only nods, concern painting his face as he notices how pale Woobin looks, draped in his blanket while he’s holding on to the door as if he’s gonna fall down any time soon. Quickly, Serim holds on to support him as Woobin invites him to come inside. Serim puts his arms on Woobin’s shoulder, helping the other walk inside the house.

“I’m sorry, it’s a mess. I didn’t expect anyone would come visit me. If I had known I would’ve cleaned up a bit.” Says Woobin, softly laughing but ending up coughing halfway through. Serim rubs Woobin’s back to help him. As they both finally sit down on the couch, Serim stands up abruptly.

“Stay here, I’m gonna make you some soup.”

Although a bit confused at the sudden order, Woobin nods, lying down on the couch. Serim picks up the blanket and covers Woobin with it. He then quickly makes his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge to find the ingredients for the soup.

Serim comes back to the living room with the newly cooked soup, seeing Woobin fast asleep on the couch. His heart aches at the sight for some unknown reason, and Serim felt as if he wanted to be the one in Woobin’s place instead. He hates seeing Woobin sick, Serim decides.

Placing the bowl of soup on the table, Serim softly whispers in Woobin’s ears, waking the latter up. “Your soup’s here. Go eat it while it’s still hot.”

Serim notices the smile painting Woobin’s lips as he helps the latter lift himself up to sit down. He tries not to pay attention to it, quickly removing his gaze from Woobin to pick up the bowl of soup.

As Woobin tries to eat the soup by himself, Serim notices how Woobin’s hands were badly shaking. Sighing, he takes the bowl of soup from Woobin, feeding the latter.

“Thank you.” Softly, Woobin says while smiling brightly at Serim. Serim tries to avoid the quick beating of his heart, not noticing how his hands were badly shaking, too, out of nervousness.

“This is the first time someone has cooked for me when I’m sick.” Woobin mutters under his breath, still looking at Serim with a meaningful gaze. Serim tries his best to avoid eye contact with the former, eyes fixated on the now empty bowl of soup. Suddenly, he stands up, clearing his throat.

“Well, I guess, uhm..I should get going now. I left your umbrella by the kitchen, by the way. Thank you for letting me use it yesterday and…I’m sorry I made you sick.”

As Serim was about to leave the house, Woobin spoke up, causing him to halt to a stop.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

For a while Serim stays silent, frozen in his place. He doesn’t dare to look back, afraid of what he will see when he does. Hearing the pain in Woobin’s voice was enough to tell him that the other was hurt by his actions for the past few days.

Instead of answering, Serim continues walking, not once looking back as he leaves Woobin’s house.

* * *

The next few days went by in a blur. Woobin came back to school after a day and everything went back to normal except for one thing: Woobin is now avoiding him. It’s supposed to be a good thing because now Serim won’t be having a hard time avoiding the other as they’re now both doing the same thing, but for some reason, his heart felt heavy because of this. It was as if a thousand needles were pricking at his heart, hurting him. Serim wasn’t used to having Woobin treat him as if he didn’t exist.

Minhee must’ve seemed to notice the sudden change in Serim, looking at the latter with concern.

“Are you alright? You haven’t been yourself for the past few days.”

Hearing this, Jungmo nods a tad bit enthusiastically, agreeing with Minhee. “It’s true, you’ve been so quiet these days it’s actually weird.” He says as he sips from his strawberry milk.

Staying silent for a while, Serim ponders on things as he eats his lunch, not noticing the weird looks his friends have been giving him since earlier. They were really starting to become concerned for their friend. It’s not normal to see Serim so quiet and detached from everyone, looking as if he was carrying the whole world on his back.

Then, Serim asks a question all the sudden. “Is it normal if your heart starts beating quickly when you’re around a certain someone?”

* * *

Serim keeps thinking about what his friends had told him the other day.

_ “Normal? That’s not normal, Serim…You’re in love.” _

__

_ Serim’s eyes widened at this, looking at Jungmo with an expression of disbelief and somehow, disgust. He throws his empty box of strawberry milk at his friend. “That can’t be possible. I’m not in love!” _

__

_ “Do you suddenly not know what to do when that someone is around you? Do you feel your heart hurt when they’re avoiding you? Or when they’re sick? Does your heart do these weird things whenever you see them?” _

__

_ Serim gulps, knowing all the answers to these, but instead, he shakes his head. Both Minhee and Jungmo don't seem to believe him though, flashing him a mischievous smile. “Bullshit, Serim. We know you’re in love. We can see it in your eyes and actions.” _

__

Until now, he still doesn’t know what they meant by  _ ‘We can see it in your eyes and actions.’  _ Could it be that he’s been too obvious? Were his actions that easy to read?

Still, Serim refuses to believe he’s in love. He can’t possibly be in love with Woobin, right? That just seems so absurd to him. He’ll never fall in love with someone like Woobin, Serim deicdes.

His heart, however, seems to beg to differ.

Fate doesn’t seem to be on Serim’s side either as he finds himself sitting with Woobin during their school trip, having to endure hours long ride of being next to the boy he refuses to be in love with.

When Woobin realises who his seatmate is, he just gives Serim an awkward, small smile, proceeding to sit next to him as if it was nothing. The action makes Serim’s heart twinge, suddenly wanting to go back to when Woobin was still not avoiding him. He’s not sure if he can still take it any longer with how the other’s been acting around him. It physically and emotionally hurt Serim.

Trying to shake it off, Serim plugs his headphones into his ears, letting the music from his phone drown his ears as he closes his eyes to sleep, hoping to reach their destination already so he wouldn’t have to pretend like he’s okay while sitting next to Woobin who’s basically avoiding his whole existence.

Serim wakes up to a heavy weight on his shoulder. When he opens his eyes, he sees that Woobin had fallen asleep on his shoulder, snoring peacefully. This causes Serim’s heart to skip a beat, suddenly all too aware of the proximity between him and Woobin. He tries to steady his breathing, not wanting to wake up Woobin from his deep sleep.

Some more minutes pass by and with every second Serim feels his shoulder starting to become sore because of the weight of Woobin’s head, but he tries to ignore it, careful not to make any moves so as not to wake Woobin up.

Finally, they reach their destination.

Serim feels himself internally panic at the realization that he’ll have to wake Woobin up whether he likes it or not, and waking Woobin up included talking to the other – was he ready to talk to him again? Serim’s not sure yet if he’s mentally prepared for that right now.

After much contemplation and when almost everyone had left the bus already, Serim finally decides to wake Woobin up, taking in a deep breath before doing so. Gently, he shakes Woobin’s shoulders.

“Wake up, we’re here already.”

Slowly waking up from his sleep, Woobin quickly moves away from Serim when he realises he’s been sleeping on the other’s shoulder for God knows how long. “Sorry.” He mutters, standing up to quickly leave the bus. Serim felt a pang in his heart because of the action, but he tries not to pay any attention to it, deciding to beg Minhee later to exchange seats with him on their way home. He’s not sure he’ll still be able to take it with how Woobin’s been treating him.

As they tour around the museum, being given free time to tour around by themselves for an hour, Serim decides to be alone, assuring Minhee and Jungmo that he’ll be fine albeit he hasn’t been acting himself at all for the whole trip. It took a while to convince both Minhee and Jungmo, but thankfully his friends were understanding and respected his decision to be alone for a while. Of course, it came with Minhee still offering that Serim can message them when he’s lost or feeling lonely, and they’ll quickly come to him. This makes Serim laugh, realizing how lucky he is to be friends with the two of them.

He doesn’t seem to notice the sigh that unknowingly escapes past his lips as he stares at the artwork in front of him that made his heart ache for unknown reasons, nor did he notice the presence of the person standing beside him, also admiring the artwork displayed.

“Avoiding you is actually a lot harder than it seems. It only proves through time and time again how absolutely weak I am without you.”

Serim’s eyes widened upon recognizing the voice’s owner. Slowly, he looks at Woobin, who he hasn’t noticed had been staring at him since earlier. His gaze looked so sad and filled with pain, and this makes Serim’s heart ache.

Serim can only stare, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t find the right words to let go of – was what he heard right? What if Woobin was just messing around with him? What if that wasn’t directed to him?

For a while, Serim and Woobin just stare at one another’s eyes, taking each other in. They stare at each other for too long that at some point, Serim feels as if he’s drowning, suddenly finding himself out of breath as he stares at Woobin’s eyes, swimming in the wonders of all the emotions visible in the other’s eyes – the pain, the longing, the hurt. Were all of these caused by Serim? He doesn’t know, and he’s not sure if he wants to know.

After some time, Serim finally speaks up, still staring at Woobin’s brown orbs as he takes in a deep breath, almost forgetting to breathe it out.

“I’m sorry.”

Quickly, Woobin shakes his head, smiling sadly at Serim. “What’s there to be sorry for? It’s not your fault.”

“It is.”

“How come?”

Serim doesn’t know where he got the courage from, or how he’s suddenly coming to terms with his feelings, but the next thing he knows, words have already magically spilled out of his mouth without a second thought.

“I’ve been such a coward, trying to run away from my feelings. I know deep down I was already aware of what I felt, but I tried to push it away, thinking these feelings would subside soon, but it only made me realise there’s no way that’s possible. In the end, I found myself regretting my actions.” Serim pauses for a moment, taking in yet another deep breath. “I’m sorry for avoiding you, and I’m sorry for running away from my feelings, but most importantly, I like you, Seo Woobin. I’ve always liked you since God knows how long.”

As if he couldn’t believe it, Woobin stares at him wide-eyed.

“You like me…?”

“Do I have to repeat myself again? I said, I like you, Seo Woobin.”

Slowly, a smile paints Woobin’s face. He starts walking closer to Serim, taking the other’s hands in his. “I know. I heard it already. I just needed to make sure I heard it right.”

Serim chuckles at Woobin because of this.

“I like you too, Park Serim.”

It felt silly, how they’re confessing their feelings for each other in front of a painting in the middle of a museum with hundreds of other people around, but none of those things had seemed to matter to the two of them as they get lost in each other’s eyes, happiness filling their hearts as they realise how true all of this is – they like each other and it’s not just a dream too good to be true.

Serim’s lips form a big curve at this, staring at Woobin with a silly expression as he wiggles his eyebrows. “So will you go out with me or not?”

Woobin laughs, hitting Serim’s shoulder. “Of course, you dumbass. What do you expect us to do next? Stay friends?”

* * *

Serim realises he doesn’t have to beg Minhee anymore to exchange seats with him, smiling to himself because of what had just happened. It feels unreal. He can’t believe Woobin likes him back. Earlier he was sure already that Woobin had hated him and his guts, but now he knows for sure that isn’t true after Woobin had convinced him for five times that he really doesn’t hate Serim at all.

_ “Why would I confess to you then if I hate you?” _ Woobin had told him earlier when they were walking around the museum, their hands intertwined as if they’re afraid they would lose each other if they let go.

Now looking back, Serim feels silly for the days he spent trying to avoid Woobin and his feelings. Would things have been different if he quickly came to terms with his feelings and confessed to Woobin? Still, if he was given another chance, Serim would do the same thing. Maybe there were some things he regretted, but those all taught him things he now knows better. His past actions made him realise things, and he would willingly go through them again if given another chance.

Later that day after the tour around the museum, Serim and Woobin enter the bus with silly smiles painted on their faces, cheeks dusted in pink. When Minhee and Jungmo notice this, they high five each other for their successful plan.


End file.
